History
Results 2001-2011
Results and end-of-season ranking from each year.
| Riot History Links | ||
| Kathy Pufahl Spirit Award Nominees Riot Player Honors and Awards  |
2000 Roster and Bio 2001 Roster and Bio 2002 Roster and Bio 2003 Roster and Bio 2004 Roster and Bio 2005 Roster and Bio 2006 Roster and Bio 2007 Roster and Bio 2008 Roster and Bio 2009 Roster and Bio 2010 Roster and Bio 2011 Roster and Bio |
 [Pictured: winning the WUCC 2002 trophy; Riot at Nationals in 2001] |
Ultimate in Seattle has never been stronger. For women there are two traveling club teams (Riot and Underground) and a top college squad (UW Element), along with youth teams, local leagues, hat tournaments and skills clinics that support all levels of the sport we love.
Seattle's first elite women's team formed in 1990 as Women on the Verge. (Riot's own Cat Pittack was one of the founding Vergins). Verge grew out of a dedicated traveling team, Seattle Sky, which played regionally in the late 80s. That fall, Verge went to UPA Nationals for the first time finishing 7th. They continued to be a strong Nationals contender throughout the nineties, finishing 5th in 1992, 3rd in 1994, 1997 and 1999, and making it to the finals in 1995 and 1998, losing both times to then dominant Lady Godiva of Boston. Verge's greatest successes came at the World Ultimate Club Championships, where the team took titles in 1995 (Millfield, UK), 1997 (Vancouver, Canada) and 1999 (St. Andrews, Scotland). With so many near misses at the national title, the team wondered if they were cursed: would they always be "on the verge?"
Despite adding new blood in the mid and late nineties, Leah Towne (1995), Vida Towne (1996), Sara GR, Kathy Scott, Vivian Zayas (all in 1997) and Deb Cussen (1999), the core of Verge went on to retire after the 1999 season. The younger players looked to 2000 for a fresh start, joining up with Kati Halmos, Beth Wise, and MAK to form a new team. After a tryout that drew more than 50 women, they took on many new faces including, Kristen Dailey, Britta Steele, Gayle Garson, Aida de la Cruz, Mizu Kinney and Sharon Goodwin.
Inspired by the mayhem of the 1999 WTO riots in Seattle, Riot charged into the Northwest region and shook things up. 2000 was a successful first year with the team going to the semifinals of major tournaments like Flower Bowl, Solstice and Tune Up. Despite beating tourney favorites Fury and Home Brood at Regionals that year, Riot went down to the strong squads of Prime and Schwa and had to stay home that October. The loss at Regionals starved the hungry Riot hurt locker. Trading in the baby blue shorts for Riot red in 2001, the team made their first appearance at Nationals, rolling all the way to the finals and finishing second to Godiva. In 2002, Riot brought home from Hawaii the fourth consecutive club world championship for Seattle.
Riot had four consecutive ECC championships, back to back wins at both Flower Bowl and Solstice, and three Northwest Regional championships, but 2004 brought a first. After a long wait, the Seattle women finally won a national UPA title. (If you ask Cat, Riot broke the curse of Verge. Finally, the 4-time world champ won her first nationals.) And then, in 2005, they won again.
2006 saw the return of many of Riot's core playmakers, with babies in tow, and a lone superstar rookie. It was a season of many successes, but ultimately, Riot finished 2nd to their long-time regional rivals, Bay Area's Fury, leaving Riot hungry again for the UPA title. 2007 brought a lot of turnover to the Riot roster, but not to the Riot spirit. A mixture of savvy veterans and young talent, 14 rookies joined forces with 7 returners for a 2007 season full of surprises. This new iteration of Riot kept the legacy of Seattle Women's Ultimate alive with a Cal States win in the spring and a finals berth in the fall. The season may have ended with a loss to Fury in the final but proved to the world that Riot was still a force to be contended with on the national scene.
Riot 2008 saw the return of most of the 2007 roster, 6 new faces and, for the first time, a coach! Led by Kari Deleeuw, Miranda Roth, Liz Duffy and coach Dennis Karlinsky, Riot 2008 entered the fall series with enthusiasm, skill, speed and grit. The season culminated in a stellar Nationals appearance, once again playing rival Fury in what can only be described as an historic final.
With hard work and determination, Riot 2009 molded another great team that earned tournament victories at ECC and NW Regionals. Coming in third at Nationals was a disappointment, but the season ended on a high note with a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Colombia where Riot won TEP.
The 2010 season had two main goals: Worlds (WUCC in Prague) and Nationals. The combination of adding 6 experienced rookies, returning nearly all of the previous year's roster, and the new Gwurge captainship led to a successful season defending the NW Regional trophy and earning a bronze medal in Prague. Bowing out in the semifinals of Nationals for the second year in a row only left Riot hungry for more.
Indeed, 2011 saw Riot reload with 6 talented rookies, allowing the team to use its deep roster every step of the way. Racking up tournament wins at ECC and Labor Day, Riot went on a 25-game winning streak that spanned four tournaments. Stumbling at Regionals, the team finished third en route to qualifying for Sarasota. At Nationals, Riot handed Fury its first loss at the championships since 2005, but couldn't repeat the feat when the teams re-matched in the finals. Riot lost 13-15 despite mounting an impressive come-back in the second half. More fuel for the fire for 2012!
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